Scott Shores

A Performance SpaceU of I Borah Theater

Michael Joseph

04+

Site Location

03 Student Union Building

Located towards the eastern edge of campus between the bookstore and Greek Road

01LocationMoscow, Idaho

02University of IdahoLocated on the University of Idaho Campus in the southwest quarter of Moscow, Idaho.

01 02 03

Room Description

01OverviewLocated in the University of Idaho Student Union Building on the sec-ond floor.

The Borah Theater is a shoebox style design with its rectangular floor plan. Designed for a sound monarchy where sound comes from a single area, the stage.

The theater consists of 195 seats and is used for lectures and film.

Acoustic Analysis: Absorptive Materials

02Acoustic Wall Tiles

A quarter of the wall space is taken up by the same acoustic tiles that are located on the theater’s ceiling.

03Upholstered Seating

The theater houses 195 uphol-stered chairs for the audience.

01 Acoustic Ceiling Tiles

Acoustic tiles fill the center sof-fits above the audience seating to prevent sound from bouncing in the space.

04Carpeting

Carpet on concrete is the floor finish used in the space.

Acoustic Analysis: Reflective Materials

02HVAC System

The HVAC vents are located along the side walls of the the-ater and protrude slightly into the space from the structure.

03Walls

Three quarters of the wall surface is reflective concrete. It is primarily the side walls that are concrete while the back wall is a sheetrock partition.

01Columns and Beams

Exposed structure lines the walls and ceiling of the space. The structure is made up of concrete.

Acoustic Analysis: Physical Model

01OverviewA physical model of the space was constructed out of chipboard and foil to represent absorbent and reflective surfaces. A laser pointer was then used to determine how sound would travel through the space.

02 03

02WallsBecause of the reflective material on the walls, sound is able to reflect diffusely and evenly disperse itself into the middle of the space.

Only issues is the columns bouncing noise back towards the stage.

03CeilingThe concrete structure, most notably the beam nearest to the stage, reflects sound back to the stage and the sound’s source as seen below.

Acoustic Analysis: Absorption

Surface Material Area (ft2) Absorption Coefficient

Absorption (Sabins)

Floor Carpet

Walls Concrete

Sheetrock

Acoustic Tile

Ceiling Acoustic Tile

Seating Occupied Seating

1500

1180

350

532

1080

840

.14

.31

.05

.83

.83

.88

210

366

17

442

896

739

2670

Acoustic Analysis: Absorption

01OverviewThe acoustics in the Borah Theater are leaning more towards an exces-sively “dead” room with 2670 sabins in a volume of 30050 cubic feet.

Due to the activities that take place in the space the acoustics should lean more towards being more “live”.

Acoustic Analysis: Revergeration

01OverviewOverall, the room is too absorptive for the appropriate amount of sound to reach the audience. As a result some of the absorptive materials should be taken out and be replaced with more reflective materials in order for the acoustics to perform better for the space’s intended activities.

Tr= .049(volume)/absorbency

Tr= .049(30050)/2670

Tr= .55

Ideal Reverberation Times

Reverberation Time

Acoustic Redesign: Materials + Methods

01Acoustic Reflector PanelsAcoustic reflector panels placed in the two soffits closest to the stage will help bounce sound down to-wards the audience and stop sound from bouncing back to the stage from the exposed beams.

02Remove Ceiling Absorptive Panels

Removal of the remaining ceiling panels on the ceiling will allow for a greater reverberation in the space, along with sending sound down-wards towards the audience.

03Remove Wall Absorptive Panels

Removal of the absorptive panels on the side walls will allow for greater reverberation time.

Acoustic Redesign: Physical Model

01WallsThe removal of absorptive panels on the wall and the addition of reflective material helps liven up the acoustical qualities of the space.

01 02

02CeilingThe ceiling acoustic reflector panels block sound to hitting the exposed concrete beams and instead bounc-es sound towards the audience and the back wall.

Acoustic Redesign: Physical Model Comparison

After After

Before Before

Acoustic Redesign: Absorption

Surface Material Area (ft2) Absorption Coefficient

Absorption (Sabins)

Floor Carpet

Walls Concrete

Sheetrock

SheetrockCeiling

Ceiling Panels

Seating Occupied Seating

1500

1180

882

360

720

840

.14

.31

.05

.05

.1

.88

210

366

44.1

18

72

739

1449.1

Acoustic Analysis: Revergeration

01OverviewWith the removal of some absorptive materials and addition of reflective materials generated a new rever-beration time of 1.01, ideal for the activities that occur in the space.

Tr= .049(volume)/absorbency

Tr= .049(30050)/1449.1

Tr= 1.01

Ideal Reverberation Times

Reverberation Time

Overall, the Borah Theater needed some work to acoustically appropriate for lectures and film. By integrating acoustic reflector ceiling panels, along with replacing the acoustic panels from the ceiling and walls with sheetrock, we were able to lower the amount of absorption in order to create a longer reverberation time. The Borah Theater absorbency was reduced from 2670 sabins to 1449.1 sabins, making the reverberation time go from .55 to 1.01 to make the reverberation ideal for the space’s functions. That’s pretty neat.

Conclusion